Chris Adams has admitted that his dismal Championship form has left him feeling 'very low.'

But the Sussex skipper insists that the pressures of running a benefit isn't the cause of a depressing sequence which has seen him score just 139 runs in nine innings this season.

It would be easy to make the assumption and Adams wouldn't be the first or last player to suffer from what the players are fond of calling 'benefititus' when the stresses and strains of running a benefit have a detrimental impact on form.

"I've been out of form before for many reasons, but I must admit I'm feeling the pressure a bit more this season because it's my benefit and people will draw their own conclusions," said Adams.

Just over a year ago things were so different for the 33-year-old. Adams was in the form of his life when he made his highest score for the county, a magnificent 217 against Lancashire.

But a couple of weeks later he was struck down again by a knee injury which plagued him for the rest of the season, forcing him to miss seven matches. After scoring 466 runs in the first three fixtures, including that game at Old Trafford, he managed 382 in the other seven he played before going under the knife at the end of the season.

Before yesterday's effort in Kent, Adams had made 139 at 15.44 with just one half-century, 54 in the first innings against Kent at Hove at the end of April.

At The Oval last weekend he made five in the first innings before getting in an awful mess attempting a pull off Azhar Mahmood before succumbing to Saqlain Mushtaq for an eight-ball duck in the second dig.

"In the first innings it's the first time I've felt I've really struggled and I can't excuse the way I got out, it was just poor judgement," said Adams.

"In the second innings I picked every delivery Saqlain bowled. The one that got me out would get me out every time to be honest and better batsmen than me as well."

While his tired team-mates rested on Tuesday before heading to Tunbridge Wells for the current match, Adams was in the nets on Tuesday with director of cricket Peter Moores trying to sort things out. It's the only way he knows of arresting a slump in form.

"Technically, I haven't felt good for a while," he said. "I've been working hard in the nets to come up with a better technique but that takes time to bed in. I'm fairly low on confidence at the moment in Championship cricket because I desperately want to make big scores for Sussex.

"I would never use the benefit distractions as an excuse, it's up to other people to do that if they want.

"There's no way of getting away from it. To be honest, next year is going to feel like a walk in the park in comparison.

"But when I'm out of form my answer has always been to work harder than ever to get back into nick.

"The only way I will get out of this bad run is to work at in the nets and then watch myself on video to see what I'm doing wrong."

It must have come as small consolation to Adams when he passed 5,000 runs for Sussex in the first Kent match while he needs another 77 to reach 13,000 in first-class cricket. His average for the county is a very respectable 41 and his current run of low Championship scores is in stark contrast to his form in limited overs cricket.

Already he has scored a century in the National League as well as a match-winning 80 not out in the C&G Trophy success over Hampshire. Adams is at a loss to explain why he can't buy a score in the Championship but continues to prosper in the one-dayers.

All he does have at the moment is a strong belief in his own ability. What's that line about form being temporary and class permanent?

"All I can do is work harder than ever before and stay true to my own belief that I am a good player," he said.

"I average over 40 for the county so now isn't the time for me to go into my shell or start scratching around.

"I need to work harder and try and build confidence so that I know that when I go out in the middle I know I will score runs.

"The bonus for me is that the rest of the top order are getting me through at the moment because they are all playing well. I like to think that I'm the type of character who will produce for them when they need me most."